Alright, kiddies. Gather around and I'll tell you a story... IN SPACE!

"What do you see? Let me look!" An impatient Robotland was tugging at Dragonfly Jafe's shoulder and trying to catch a glimpse out of the viewing port at the top of his PBR Module. "It's nothing, just a dust devil". "But it sounded like some kind of leopard or something, howling like that" said Robotland as he resigned back in to his gravity seat and cracked open a cold one. "We might be stuck in here for some time," said Jafe "and if this dust storm doesn't let up we'll have a lot of cleaning to do with that air compressor of yours". The howling wind had a lulling quality to it, and after a while the two would-be cosmonauts fell into a deep sleep.

At the dawn there was a warm yet eerie stillness. Robotland opened the airlock and stretched his right arm through the opening in a grateful arch toward the crisp, still air. When his hand came down to find purchase on the bottom of the airlock, he felt something that was not there when he built the vessel. "What the...". He peered over the edge and ran his finger across four deep gashes in the outer hull. The looked like they were made with a big pneumatic hammer, but the equal curves and aggressive depth suggested only one cause for such an impressive series of gouges.... the claw of a terrible jungle cat. A powerful predator that stalks in the cover of a stormy night.

Robotland turned his torso slowly toward his comrade, but for some reason, his eyes just needed to stay that much longer on the fresh gouges. "Jafe, you gotta see th.... Jafe?" As his head realigned with his body he saw the inside of his landing craft, completely devoid of his friend. The sun was already starting to scorch and reflect off the playa below as he realized this would be a long day in the desert indeed.

Then came a voice from the bottom of the ladder. "What's the matter, Robo"? Le Chat Noir peered up with one paw covering his face in an attempt to shield his squinting eyes. "Have you seen Dragonfly Jafe?" Robotland responded to which Le Chat shrugged his shoulders and said "Not since last night. Didn't you guys go out together after the space docking party?". "No, the dust storm stranded us here, but now I don't see him. Hey, take a look at these gouges on the PBR". "Yeah, they look like claw marks-- in fact, I just saw the same kind of thing on Kernul Killbuck's mutant vehicle, the Roamin' Off, and I heard he's at the infirmary because of an injury." "Shit, we'd better get over there quick and try to get to the bottom of this." replied Robotland. With that, they were biking up the plaza and reached the medical tent before long.

It was not hard to find the tall and muscular Kernul in his favorite reclining pose near the entrance, but the sheet over his face and the tag on his toe was certainly a new look for the playa this year.

Below is a link to a mini-movie showing the rapidly degrading orbit of the LabwÃ«rks satellite. The trajectory confirms a splash down near the Esplanade at 3:00 in Black Rock City on Monday, August 27th at 12:01 AM PST.

The audio telemetry signal reminds us of just how long the satellite and its crew have been DOOMED AND FORGOTTEN... IN SPACE!

"Kernul Killbuck is dead". The words came from behind the two dusty adventurers. They swung around to face the shocked look of the speaker with similar looks of their own.

"Pinemom! How the... Wha.... Whi... Bu....!" Le Chat Noir's befuddled speech sounded like a sputtering motorboat engine as he attempted to wrap his feline brain around the situation. Pinemom gave him a sympathetic look as she raised her hand to calm him, her new wedding ring glinting in the high desert sun.

"All we know is he was perfectly fine at Club Verboten last night, and then he said he was tired and heading back to the Booby Bar for a night cap but nobody saw him turn up there. The rangers found him this morning, dead, underneath the scale burner camp and the LEO's are starting an investigation". "They better talk to the fucking Kiwi's" said Robotland "but then that was all just a game... wasn't it?". "Let's not jump to conclusions" said Pinemom "the only clue we have to go on is the item that was in his oven mitt when he was found". "What did they find in his mitt?" Robotland asked...